Bottle-stopper protector and supporter



T. A. JOHNSON. BOTTLE STOPPER PROTECTOR AND SUPPORTER- APPLICATION FILED FEB. 14. 1920.

Patented Sept. 14,1920.

, INVENTOR WITNESSES 7/7. c/Oh JO/V ATTO R N EY surface.

' THOMAS ARTHUR Jonnson, or fnocizr'onn, ILLINOIS T I ,jnorrrLn-srorrna rnorncroa Aim surrorvrnn.

Applicationfiled February 14, 192$). Serial No. 358,659.

1 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, TrroMAs ART UR OHN- SON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rockford, in the county ofWVinnebago.

and State of Illinois, have invented anew and useful Bottle-Stopper Protector and Supporter, of which the followingis a specification. This invention'relates to bottle stopper protectors and supporters. p The object is to provide a simple device;

for use in conjunction with medicine or chemical bottles for similar receptacles to be 1 engaged with the corks orstoppers thereof for the purpose of facilitating the removal ofthe same from the necks, of the bottles,

support.

. A full and complete understanding of the i invention may be obtained from "a consideration' of the following detailed descripwhich might result from; such contact, the device being so' constructed as to attain these desired results,'no matterin what position'thecork or stopper together with the supporting device maybe placed uponsald tion, taken in connection with the ccompanying drawing forming part of this specificati'on; it being under'stoodlthat while the drawing shows practlcal forms or -the' '1n- 'Venti'on, the latter is not confined to strict conformity therewith but may be chaiiged or modified, so long as such changes or modifications-mark no materlal departure from thesalient-ieatures of the invention, as specifically pointed out in the ap'pended'claim's. In the drawing, in which similar rererence characters designate,"corresponding parts throughout" the several figures r V Figure 1. is aside'elevation oi the upper portion of 'a bottle havin'gthe improved de-.

vice applied thereto inengagement with I the cork or stopper.- 1

/ Fig: 2 15 a plan- V w the aevieat tached to a cork. T i

' 3'is a perspective view of the dei ice supporting acorlruponn table or similar r men, I?

Specification of Letters Patent, -P tented Sept. 14c, 1920.

i Fig. 4% is aside elevation of a modified form ofthe device attached to a corkx J F 1g. 5 1s a SlIIlllZtfVlBW of another n odi- :fi'ed' form, the cork ,or stopper being shown in dotted lines. I I F1g'sf6-and 7 are detail views showing other methods of connecting the attach inent'to a cork or stopper without employf The preferred. embodiment of the inve'n- H ing a cork screw. 7

tion, as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 30f the drawing,'is formed of a length-of suitable stilt, [springwire,- such as is used in the manufacture of the cheaper grade-of cork screws, bent to form an extracting ringer;

finger ofthe operator, the said loop being handle .1" of a diameter to ireel'y receive th J formed nearer to onefl'end of the strand of wire than the other, the said end" portions being twisted about each other two or more times, as at 2, in order to hold 'the l'oop 1 '3 from springing openitThe shorter end of the wire'strand is then twisted into an ordi 'na'ry cork screw '3, or other form of attachmg means, the longitudinal ,axlsfof which is the extracting, loop linthe usual'manner.

arranged in'ra'dial 'relation'to the center of The ;other' or longer" end portion of the wire strand is bent"atsubstantially1 right angles to the axis of the cork screw 31an'd the twisted portion 2 at'the point where the latter parts join, as indicated at 4, and extends outwardly a distance sufliciently beyond the diameter, of the i mouth; of the maximum sized bottleas toavoid contact;

ing withthe same," andis thence bent down ward-1y atom a supporting arm 5 in a .'di-' V rection parallel with-the axis "of the cork I screw, anda considerable distance 1 beyond the penetrating point of the same, where the wire is "then' bent, at right angles to the arm 5 and curved inwardly and around a center in alii-iement with the aiiisf'of-the cork screw'and in spacedrelation}theretoto. form a guard ring or loop' 6,fwhose" diameter is such as to freely pass I over the beaded mouthend of the maximum sized bottle, the terminal" of the longerend of the wire strand composing the deiii'ce being wrapped about'thefllower portionbfthe As illustratedfin Figgthe riiigtr. p 6 is passed "over the beaded mouth fend'8' of the bottle9, .the said'ring being held by the arm- 511; spaced relation to theneck arm 5, to firmly hold the l0op'6 mposition,

as indicated at 7. I

' without any interference whatsoever by the of the bottle and from the bottle proper,

the device being then rotated by the finger of the operator through the ring or loop 1, to drive the cork screw 3 into the usual cork 10, which may bereadily extracted from the bottle, or replaced in position,

guard ring or loop 6. ll hen the device together with the cork is removed from the bottle, the same may be carelessly placed upon a table, shelf or stationary, the ring 6 and the large end of the corklO serving at all times to prevent the small end of the same from contacting with the support thus preventing any of the contents of the bottle, which may be highly injurious and which may be adhering to the small end of the cork, from affecting said surface, or from becoming contaminated with foreign substance or matter picked up from such surface.

In Fig. 4, the extracting loop or'ring 1 I is omitted, and consequently the twisted portion 2, the rest of the device being formed substantially the same as that shown inthe preceding figures, and this form of the device is especially adapted for use upon shelves where economy of space is demanded and the room necessary for the rings or loops 1 is not present.

The form of the device illustrated in, Fig.

5 is similar to those previously described in so far as it'has the cork screw 3 and the guard ring 6 connected together in the same manner, but the extracting ring 1 and the twisted portion 2 are omitted, as in the second described form, illustrated in Fig. 4:, and in lieuthereof the horizontally disposed arm- 4 is connected directly to the cork screw 3 being looped to form an eye 11,- through which a swiveled extracting ring 12 is engaged, said ring 12 being adapted to lie upon the top of the cork when not inuse, and thus obviate the necessity for additional room at the top of the bottle to provide for the extracting ring.

The last two describedforms of the inven- I tion, are particularly well adapted to be applied to bottles of drugs, chemicals, etc, and to be carried by the same during shipment, beingeasily inclosed in cartons or wrapped in packages andoccupying substantially no additional room.

From. the foregoing it will. be seen that an extremely simple and en'icient device for the purposes stated has been provided which can be manufactured ata low cost and placed upon and sold with the bottle with slight additional cost thereof, the device serving to protect the contents of the bottle from contamination by preventing the inserted end of the cork from contacting with any surface or support upon which it might be placed when extracted, and atthe same time prevents soiling or marking such support.

In Figs. 6 and 7 other modified forms of the invention are shown. In Fig. 6, the lon- The essential feature of the invention consists 1n the guard loop 6 ct greater diameter than the neck of the bottleand necessarily of greater diameter than'the cork itself, said f guard loop being carried by a longitudinal arm whereby when the cork is detached, the

loop holds the lower endof the cork out of contact with the supporting surface.

What is claimed is:. p f V c p f v 1. An attachment for bottle stoppers serving as a protector and supporter for the stopper, comprising a longitudinal'arm 'having at one end a means of attachment to the stopperand atthe otherend a guard loop-of a size to slip over the neck of the bottle, said loop holding the end of the stopper-out of contact with a supportingsurface when the stopper is removed from. the bottle, and a loop or handle provided at the end-opposite the guard loop'by means of which theat tachn'ient may be manipulated. c 2. An attachmentfor bottle-stoppers-comprising a longitudinal arm. having at one end a cork screw and at the other end a guard loop of a size to pass over the neck of a bottle and serving as a support for the stopper when the bottle. I c 3. A bottle stopper protector andjsupporter formed of a singlestrand of wire bent to form a corkscrew, an arm' extending at right angles to'the axis of the corkscrew latter is removed from c the from the end thereof remote from the penetrating end, said arm being bent at'right angles and'in parallehsm'to the axisof the corkscrew and extending beyond the pene trating end thereof, and th being bent again at right angles, and curved intoycircular form to provide a gu ard'ring or loop whose center is in alinement with thelongitudinal axis of the corkscrew.

4. A bottle stopper protector and porter formed of a single strand ofwire bent intermediate its length-to, forman extracting ring located nearer toone end of the wire than the other, said. ends being twisted about eachother, the shorter end being formed'into a corkscrew whose longitudinal axis is in alinement with thediame- 7 and adapted to surround the neck of a bottle when the cork is applied thereto and to supfer of the ring, the longer end of the wire being bent outwardly at substantially. right angles to the vcorkscrew and at the end thereofremote from the penetrating end, to'form' an arm extending beyond the mouth end of a,

bottle said arm being then bent parallel to the corkscrew and extending beyond the end thereof a sufficient distance to clear the lower end of the cork and there formedinto a loop concentric with the axis of the corkscrew port the, smaller end of the latter in spaced "relation to a supporting surface when removed therefrom.

5. An attachment for bottlestoppers serving as a protector and supporter for the stopper, comprising a longitudinal arm having at one end means for rigidly attaching the same to the stopper, at the other end a guard loop having a greater diameter than the neck of the bottleas well as the stopper so as to permit the stopper tob'eapplied with the guard loop encircling the neck'of the bottle and the longitudinal arm extend ing out from said neck, whereby when the stopper is removed, the guard loop with its attached arm serves to hold theend of the stopper out of contact with a supporting surface. V In testimony, that I claimthe foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiiXed my signa'-;

ture in the presence of two witnesses; 

